Minneapolis Street Sighting: Pontiac Fiero

I know I am back on the subject of cliche cars, (and yes, all three of these cars posted recently have been cliched, so what)but I happen to like Pontiac's little "halo" car of the 1980s. I have written about the little Pontiac dozens of times, as its probably the most commonly feature 1980s poster-child on this blog. I can't help it--I love these!

What I don't love is the reception they got when new, and nor do I love what happened to a vast majority of these little sportsters. Unlike their main competition (the Toyota MR2), these Fieros were subject to much abuse; everything from being hacked up into horrible replicas of Italian cars, to being used for scrap fiberglass did these cars in; it didn't help that they supposedly had engine fire problems when new, either.

As a result, most of the Fieros I see around are tired, and are probably on their last legs. Nevertheless, I still love them so, even if they're seen as crappy cars by most. 

First off, this example is far from the nicest Fieros I've seen; I wouldn't call it the worst, because, well, it's still a Fiero, and not a hacked-up replica. The paint color is pretty nice, and far from common, and the two-tone looks decent- albeit from far away.

Up close, though, is another matter. No paint peel, and no orange peel, but the finish itself was sort of...flat.  I didn't care for the generic Pontiac Racing badges, though I suppose its better than being debadged. I do, however, quite like the blacked out wheels; they compliment to lower accenting quite well.  Aside from minor rear damage, this is a clean Fiero, and I am glad its still on the road.

I am glad I shot this, though I haven't shot any Fieros recently. I have a long supply, and I think with the exception of two, this is one of the nicest ones I've shot in my career as a photographer.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Buick Reatta

In the late 1980s, and well into the early-1990s, GM was going through a major restructuring; sales were falling, and the rise of personal GT cars, and other "European" ventures were being welcomed 'stateside. This prompted GM to bring out a trio of upmarket, supposedly European-influenced vehicles to each of its premium-core brands. Since Chevrolet was seen as the bread-and-butter brand, and Pontiac was geared toward excitement, neither of those brands were offered a piece of the luxury pie; GM instead gave those honors to none other than Buick, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile.
In late 1987, scoops of the Cadillac Allante hit car magazines, and within months, various enthusiast publications predicted that Oldsmobile would have a version of this "new European derived Cadillac", and they were right; what magazines didn't know is that Buick would receive one as well.
Since Buick was, at the time, experimenting with performance cars like the Regal GNX, and Grand National, speculation was that if a Buick version of this new car came out, it would carry a turbo powerplant; unfortunately, this was not so. Instead, the Reatta was a rather sour mixture of new-age luxury wrapped in svelte body--not unlike the Buick Regal GS of today; sleek body, and tons of luxury without power a sporty car does not make.
Not very many Reattas were made -- even though it was intended from the start as a halo car, production still fell short of initial expectations. Even though it says just over 20,000 were built, exact production numbers are unknown, and because these cars were hand-built, build dates are unknown; the hardtop is the most common, with the convertible being ever so rarer with just under 2500 built. To date, I have seen maybe four or five convertibles, and about thirty or so hardtops--and probably the same car more than once.









Like most Reattas I see, this one is in rather good condition; it isn't perfect, but what daily-driven Minnesota car is? As non-red Reattas go, this example is the nicest I've seen; they were available in black, white, and gray, all of which I have seen, but most of them I encounter seem to be red. Yes, red was a very popular car--not only for the Reatta, but for other "sporty" cars of this era, too. The Mercury Capri, which wasn't quite a competitor, but it followed the whole "sporty looks with not much cook" format fairly well.
With the exception of some minor damage to the left headlight, this collector Buick seems to good-to-go. I don't recall seeing any "pristine" ones, either. All the ones I've seen have damage to either the headlight fixtures, or suffer from leaky taillights. Oddly enough, the leaky taillight problem exists on the Allante as well. Go figure.
I have no desire to own one of these, but I do like them in their own right; it's a shame these cars didn't live up to their looks, but I suppose that can be said of all of the "luxury coupes" that debuted in the 1988-1991 season, the Allante included.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ford Probe LX

With the sporty-car segment booming thanks to the likes of the Toyota Celica, Honda Prelude, and Mitsubishi Eclipse/Plymouth Laser/Eagle Talon, Ford knew it could not sit out. Still in their partnership with Mazda, they decided to give this market a chance-- but not without a controversy. Initially, this new sporty car was intended to replace the much-loved Mustang. A foul cry from enthusiasts, owners, and car magazines alike promptly forced Ford--and Mazda--to rethink the idea. Instead of carrying the famous Mustang nameplate, this new car wore a new name--Probe; and it had a twin--the Mazda MX-6.
Unfortunately, in the later 1990s, the sporty-car market began a slippery decline; the Eclipse lost its luster, the Celica became a shadow of its former self, and Prelude was replaced by the Accord coupe, and after years of dwindling sales, Ford finally pulled the plug in 1997 with that being its worst year--and the worst selling Ford car of that year to boot.
While the other cars I named would go on to have a vast community of enthusiasts and aftermarket support, the Probe--and the MX-6 received very little of either. Yes, there were Probe enthusiasts, and people did "rice them out", examples of such were few and far between, especially compared to the Eclipse and Celica with which it competed.
I do like the second generation cars made from 1993 to 1997, but I have to say finding an early first generation, like this 1990 or 1991 LX is truly icing on the cake for me. What could only be better? Finding a mint GT or--even better--a mint GT Turbo.








It seems as though my 1990s cars are horrible examples of the breed, and this Probe LX is certainly no different. Shod of it centercaps, and equipped with enough tape to qualify for the 24 Hours of Lemons, this once-sporty coupe has fallen down the totem pole even lower; when new, this LX was a modestly equipped vehicle with sporty looks. Now, this coupe is nothing but a beater. I will say this, however. Unlike most cars of this era, the Probe is only now just beginning to rust. I can't say that about the Ford Escorts and F-150s of this vintage, that's for sure.
I've always liked these, and this color was one of my favorites growing up. It's sad to see a childhood icon slowly succumbing to tinworm, but I suppose that's the fate for most of these cars. Aside from being raced on the Lemons circuit, this generation of Probe receives almost no fanfare. I sometimes wonder if I'm weird for liking these--I've always thought these were quite cool. I had a babysitter with one, and I--for whatever reason--absolutely loved it. Hers was this color, too. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I had tremendous fun shooting this little guy. Now, imagine my excitement if this example were a GT/Turbo!

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Dodge Shadow ES

The 1990s saw a slow resurgence for Chrysler; times were rather meek for the US auto industry; ho-hum styling, weak powerplants, and mixing up long-lasting paint treatments were a relatively new idea. Sporty cars were the "in" thing, and companies were doing all they could to make sure their bread-and-butter cars appealed to younger, possibly first-time buyers. GM experimented with bright colors, and graphics, and Ford tried its hand at bright colors, graphics and odd wheel choices. Chrysler took a more restrained approach-- the monochromatic approach.
As far as the early 1990s go, if one couldn't afford a Stealth, this--or a Daytona-- was the only sporting Dodge available at your local dealer. So, what did that monochromatic paintjob with matching wheels hide under the bulged hood? Honestly, better than I originally expected. It had the standard V6 found in the Dodge Stealth and Mitsubishi 3000GT-- the 6G72 3.0L built by Mitsubishi. In this application, it made 142 horses, and 171 ft/lbs of torque, which was enough to propel this semi-hot notchback to 60 in a rather decent 7.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 126 mph. Not too bad for a car that wasn't really considered a sports-anything when it was introduced. I supposed the lightness of the whole thing had an effect on performance, being weighed in at roughly 2600 pounds in manual guise.











As I was growing up, these things were everywhere; I recall at the age of five, I sort of fell in love with these at the Kansas City auto show. I liked (presumably) the wheel design and the styling of the front end. The bright colors over a relatively bland color didn't hurt either, and I've always liked monochromatic vehicles with off-color trim or badges. I don't know why, either.
This particular ES took me by surprise; I don't think I've ever seen one so nice--at least since my early childhood days, anyway. I was almost taken aback. I didn't think any still existed, much less in the rustbelt. The paint was fantastic; no evidence of rust, no peeling, and there were not even any dings disgracing the body panels. My favorite aspect of these cars were the wheels; I've always liked the '90s 5 "spokes" on these cars and their Daytona platform-mate. I think these were available on the vans, too, not sure. I didn't look inside, but I would imagine it was as mint as the exterior. I
f there was any Shadow worth a semi-premium price, this would be it. A well preserved ES is not really a collector-car perse, but it deffinitely would get noticed. Not many Shadows survived since the demise of the line in 1994, but a few remain. To date, I have seen maybe five or six ES in various states of decay. This was the nicest one I've seen in quite a long time, and posisbly the only extremely nice one I'll see--ever.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ford Pinto

As one knows now, I have a certain fondness for 1970s and 1980s domestic-marketed cars that generally get a bad rap. GM had the Vega/Astre, the Monza/Starfire/Skyhawk/Sunbird coupes, and the T1000/Chevette; Chrysler had the K-cars, the Omni/Horizon, and the Volare/Aspen twins, and what did Ford have? Ford had the Mustang II, the Fiesta (not the new one) and the Granada/Versailles/Monarch, and the Maverick/Comet, among others. But the car that's by far my favorite "forgotten Ford" only second to the Maverick/Comet, is the Pinto/Bobcat.
Introduced in 1971, the Pinto was Ford's answer to the rising popularity of small Japanese cars, and like the new wave of imported cars, the Pinto wasn't without it's share of problems. While the little imported cars, the Pinto, too, was rust-prone, though this wagon debunks the myth entirely. However, the Pinto had a more serious problem-- it could exploded under a severe-enough rear-end collision. Because the gas tank was positioned right below the rear axle, the tank would rupture on impact, result in deadly fires. Ford knew of this problem almost instantly, but declined to fix it, stating initially that the fires were result of "unfortunate circumstances". Pinto sales steadily declined until the little car was replaced in 1981 with the front-wheel-drive Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx.










I've never seen an earlier wagon in my life, so this was quite a surprise; also surprising, too, was the condition. I've seen numerous rusty Pinto hatchbacks, and the few later wagons I've seen have all had serious rust damage. There's not doubt that being a Minnesota car, this Pinto is probably masking some nasty underside cancer. On the surface, though, it appears relatively nice.
The paint is predictably flat (probably not a metallic color anyway), and big bumpers seem to have held up quite well, despite looking completely out of character with the rest of the wagon. The trim, too (only the badging here from what I can see) is quite clean, and is still intact--definitely a feat worth noting since the glue/pins/screws holding the badges on tend to give out quite often. The fact that three out of the four wheels are present suggests that the steelie currently in on the driver's side rear is likely the spare tire. I think it's quite neat to see a relatively forgotten car in such decent condition more than thirty-five years after it's introduction.
I can only wish for more happy motoring from this Pinto owner, and I can hope that his vehicle doesn't become a statistic in Pinto fires. After all, it's lived nearly four decades without becoming one.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Lincoln Continental Town Car

Like I explained before, the late 1970s and early 1980s was a great time (sort of) for America's premier luxury brands to duke it out; on GM's side of the fence, ungainly and confusing looking Cadillacs with not-quite family styling graced the portfolio, and on Ford's side of things.. well, a vast array of luxury products complemented the compact cars at dealers. The main seller was Lincoln's much-loved Continental nameplate, shown here in "Town Car" guise. While a coupe was had, too (as I showed just a couple days ago), the four was the big seller. It's a car that exudes class and formality, but also looks quite good even by today's standards. For me, this is probably the ultimate Lincoln, only being bested by the 1961-1964 Lincoln Continental.











In the late 1970s, emission controls were really starting to take their toll on America's beloved-- the luxury car. Saddled with a 460 V8, one would assume that this barge made an assload of power to get moving, correct? The answer is.. no. The big engine churned out a rather geriatric 185ish horsepower; sounds quite sad, doesn't it? This wonderful combination produced fuel mileage worthy of a big rig, or perhaps a Ferrari 360 Modena; EPA estimates when new were 10 city/14 highway, and by today's standards, that equates to a rather staggering 5 city and 11 highway. I would argue that if someone buys a big luxury barge, they don't care about fuel mileage. An why should they? When new, these vehicles were the "of-choice" for bankers, investors, and other top-notch people in society-- a far cry from the minicab industry that uses the Town Car today.
I first found this car in the same way I found the gold LTD posted earlier; I've seen it off and on for months now, but since it wears out of state tags, I (un)safely assumed that I would never get the chance to shoot it fully, much less blog it. My fears were erased when, out of nowhere, it showed up in front of me-- so I did the paparazzi thing and tailed it, hoping it would park. And it did.
I am somewhat saddened by the condition of this once-proud beast; it's definitely withered the elements, and while that honestly isn't a bad thing, it should've been cared for better. Up close, the paint, while not pitted per se, was in far from ideal shape; no actual rust cluttered up the body, but dents and paint-fade surely let passersby know this example of America's Lincoln was past its prime. The wheels, too, seemed to have had their fair share of troubles. Not quite in bad condition, only one was missing a centercap--a piece that is damn near impossible to find today. I didn't get a chance to scope out the interior of this beast-- only because the area in which it was parked is somewhat shady-- but I do recall that their were personal contents strewn across the back seat, suggesting that this big Town Car is not only still rolling daily, it's also being used as "just another car".
To me, cars are supposed to be used; I realize that daily use does ruin car if they're not upkept, but in cases like this, I'd rather see it being used, and still on the road, than sitting in a feild rotting. I know it sound sacrilegious, but I'd care about a beater one that's still on the road, more than an abandoned junker, simply because the mere fact that it's still going means it has an owner to care about it.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Ninety Eight

I discovered a new area last weekend, and I found a couple cars worth shooting; I know I have featured endless amounts of Oldsmobiles, but I've only featured one example of the full-size Ninety Eight model, and that was last summer. I have no idea why, but it seems that the truly big boats aren't liked as much here in Minnesota-- I tend to see Cutlass' and Delta 88s quite frequently as far as these Olds go.
For me, finding cars I really haven't seen in person is always fascinating; when I first spotted this car, I thought it was a Pontiac if the wheels were any indication. When I finally got a chance to examine it closer, I was horribly wrong-- this full size Olds bear no indication whatsoever of anything Pontiac-- except the rolling stock, which honestly looks pretty good here. Now, along with most other classic cars that spend their days in this rather harsh climate, this Ninety Eight looked a little worse for wear, but I saw nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little time.
Usually, rust would be an obvious let-down, but on this Olds, the rust appeared to be only surface rust, which would suggest that this car first came from a drier state, like one of the Dakotas. But no, the dealer plaque on the trunk is a clear indication that it was bought right here in Minnesota. Strangely enough, it appears that most of the cars that survive with the dealer plaques still intact are GM products. Could it be an indication that either GM products survive longer than other cars, or is it a case of GM dealers being more insistent on plaques? Either way, these little plaques are an often overlooked--but undeniably cool feature on these old cars.
Aside from the surface rust on the trunk, this big sedan was pretty clean; other than the ass end, this thing was pretty straight--especially for a lifelong Minnesota car; the Pontiac Rallyes set it off quite nicely, and they look better than I imagine the stockers would. If it were up to me, I'd keep 'em on. I'd first find either some proper center caps, or get some Olds ones as a finishing touch. I'd also remove the "Support" sticker; not because I don't support the troops, I just think the combination of those stupid ribbons, and the fact that this one is faded to hell, make for a rather unpleasant sight on an otherwise straight car. All it needs now is a weekend of elbow grease, and a little time under the hood, and this Ninety Eight will be good as new. Let's just hope the owner follows suit and returns this Olds to its former glory.